The UK’s top bosses will have made more money by lunchtime on Wednesday than the typical UK worker will earn all year, according to an analysis that exposes the gulf between executives and the rest of the workforce.

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It hopes its stark findings will act as a spur to the prime minister, Theresa May, to act on her promises to create an economy that works for everyone. In the political fallout from last year’s Brexit vote that catapulted her to power, May tapped into voters’ frustrations over inequality and since being made prime minister she has vowed to reform capitalism.

Stefan Stern, the head of the High Pay Centre, said forcing companies to publish pay ratios would be a good start.

“Our new year calculation is not designed to make the return to work harder than it already is. But ‘Fat Cat Wednesday’ is an important reminder of the continuing problem of the unfair pay gap in the UK,” he said.

“We hope the government will recognise that further reform to pay practices are needed if this gap is to be closed.”

He said giving workers a seat at the table when pay is set, something May aproposed but has recently softened her approach on, would help restrain executive rewards.

The rise in pay for FTSE 100 bosses such as Sir Martin Sorrell of the advertising company WPP and Bob Dudley of BP is in stark contrast to the fortunes of average workers, who have seen their living standards stagnate as a result of slow earnings growth since the financial crisis.

Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary, said the prime minister must stick to her commitment to put workers on boards.

Responding to the High Pay Centre analysis, she said: “Working people deserve a fair share of the wealth they help create. But while the pay of top executives has been rocketing up, the average weekly wage is still worth less than it was nine years ago.”

Campaigners at the Equality Trust highlighted the gulf between UK executives and key workers. Using High Pay Centre figures for 2015, it found average annual pay for a FTSE 100 boss was £5.48m, or 401 times that of a minimum wage worker. It was also 172 times more than a nurse’s pay and 145 times more than a teacher’s.

The trust’s executive director, Wanda Wyporska, said: “Bosses continue to rake in millions even when they fail, but those who care for us, protect us and teach our children are left struggling to get by. It’s clear our priorities are all wrong.”

The Fat Cat Wednesday calculation assumes bosses started back at work after Christmas on 2 January and is based on median FTSE 100 chief executive pay of £3.97m in 2015 – up from £3.87m in 2014.

The hourly pay rate of £1,009 is calculated on the assumption that FTSE bosses work 12 hours a day, including three out of every four weekends, and take fewer than 10 days holiday a year. The “national living wage” is £7.20 an hour for over-25s.

Stern said the big increase in executive pay in recent years appears to have been driven by “performance-related” awards, but highlighted new research published last week that poured cold water on the link between pay and performance, suggesting it had been negligible.

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Labour market experts said that despite continued talk of reforming executive pay, the gulf between top bosses and average workers was likely to widen this year as employers hold off pay rises because of the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and cost pressures from a weak pound.

Sterling’s fall since the referendum has raised import costs and is expected to stoke inflation, meaning that those workers who do get a pay rise are still likely to be worse off in real terms.

“The situation is likely to get worse before it gets better,” said Ben Willmott, the head of public policy at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the trade group for the human resources sector.

“Higher inflation in 2017 will mean many frontline workers will face a pay squeeze at a time when FTSE 100 CEO pay is already 129 times that of the average employee.”

He also highlighted CIPD research that found six in 10 employees identified CEO pay as an issue that demotivates them at work. “The message from the workforce is clear: ‘the more you take, the less we’ll give’,” he said.